Spring is in the mind of the beholder, right?

I’m going with that.

I truly try to conscientiously enjoy each season in its moment, to relish in unique joys of each corner of the year.

After all, each season’s one with my three little ones I won’t get back. A year from now, they’ll be each a year older, entirely different children in totally different developmental stages and pant sizes.

But try as I might to embrace this ongoing cold snap with gusto, part of me is likewise the petulant child, strapped hostage in a car’s back seat droning on, ‘Are we there yet?’ as we endure another winter spell’s frigidity.

So I cope the way the restless child would.

I close my eyes; I think to spring.

That distinct scent of melting snow and freshly unearthed dirt and budding greens manifests in my mind, and I’m transported to a happy place.

Fortunately, there’s a special place for thinking spring in real life, too.

It’s during February’s beginnings in which my husband and I begin to chat about a few of our favorite things – What to plant in our garden.

Plotting our garden plots takes work, a meticulous grid system, and a hunk of math skills.

But it’s not square roots, but root vegetables that we anticipate to have a great yield.

While many this season have had football’s gridiron on the brain, I’ve been dreaming of a grid to plan our greens.

What to order from various greenhouses we peruse. 

What plants are better companions grown together than others.

And there’s nothing quite contrary about drawing up plans to better help our garden grow.

While there are several ways to grow a vegetable, herb and fruit garden — and planting rows is perhaps most traditional — my husband and I have always sworn by the square foot gardening method.

Square foot gardens are designed exactly as the name suggests.

Raised garden beds are divided into square feet — 4’ x 4’ or 4’ x 8’ are common sizes – which are individually managed with various amounts of seeds or seedlings, dependent on that plant’s eventual growth size.

For example, one can plant 16 radish seeds in a square foot, because they don’t take up much room at harvest time, but only one tomato plant per foot, because they grow large.

Bountiful online and book source material abound with ways to space your plants in a square foot garden.

These beds have no paths, so no space goes wasted, and the garden beds’ soil and compost stay loose and fresh because they are never stepped upon.

They’re neat, tidy, and take up far less space than a traditional garden.

These gridded plots produce high yields with minimal maintenance.

Seriously minimal.

My husband and I lay the weed block tarp on thick, only digging in teeny holes for seedlings to be planted and sown seeds to grow. 

We place soaker hoses carefully around the plants, and set timers for watering.

It’s not all fuss-free, however.

A garden’s initial planting’s tough work. In our case, we’ve always had to arrange for child care so that we can dig in and get the garden party started.

And though my husband and I avidly compost now, which gives our garden nutrient-dense soil made at no cost, our initial purchase of good quality compost came at a hefty price before we could generate enough compost on our own.

Square foot gardens aren’t all that idea for vining crops. And weeds will find ways to rear their teasing greens, so maintenance and a keen eye all summer long is essential.

For as controlled and orderly as a square foot garden begins, it will evolve and unfold into something you can cultivate but not truly control.

It’s something that begins looking like a street map of New York City and ends up like Boston.
Gardening is trial and error, always.

It’s taken us years and we’re still in trial-and-error mode, getting it squared away and down to a science.

But this time of year’s the season to research what plants grow well together; what you’ll actually eat.

Study up on what grows well in your climate, whether you plan to start your own seedlings, and what shape your yard is in with sunlight and shadows.

Order your trees to plant if you’ve got the landscape to do so, or plot in a pot by your front stoop.

Get creative now, so come spring you can roll up your sleeves and truly dig in.

— Michelle Cote is creative director of the Journal Tribune and a nationally-syndicated columnist. Rocking out to classics in her minivan with husband and three sons is totally her jam. Contact her at TheRookieMama@yahoo.com.